The Institute has a staff of around 500, an annual turnover of £53 million and occupies around 12,000 sq m of laboratory and office space.[3] Four of the 12 most highly cited authors in neuroscience and behaviour in the world are currently based at the Institute.[3] The Institute holds active grants for research into a wide range of neurological conditions, including movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, brain tumour, stroke and brain injury, muscle and nerve disorders, cognitive dysfunction and dementia.[6] It forms a key part of UCL Neuroscience.[3]

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The Institute of Neurology was established in 1950.[1] It merged with UCL in 1997, becoming the UCL Institute of Neurology.[1][7]

In November 2002, a team of researchers at the Institute led by Professor John Collinge published the results of a study which showed that the number of cases of CJD caused by the consumption of BSE-infected beef may have been higher than previously calculated and that BSE, in addition to causing variant CJD (vCJD), may also have caused some cases of "sporadic" CJD.[8] In February 2004, a team of researchers at the Institute led by Tania Singer published research showing that it is possible for one human to feel another’s pain and that the same regions of the brain are activated in the empathizer and the empathisee.[9] In July 2005, a team of researchers at the Institute led by Davina Bristow published the results of research funded by the Wellcome Trust in Current Biology which demonstrated that parts of the human brain are temporarily "switched off" when blinking.[10] In September 2005, a team of researchers at the Institute led by Victor Tybulewicz at the National Institute for Medical Research and Professor Elizabeth Fisher from the Institute published the results of a study in which they had been able to introduce most of a human chromosome into mice, producing the most successful recreation of Down's syndrome to date.[11] In August 2007, a team of researchers at the Institute led by Henrik Ehrsson published research in Science which was the first to describe how it is possible to use cameras to trick the human brain into thinking that a person is elsewhere in a room than they really are.[12][13]

In February 2011, a team of researchers at the Institute led by Nick Wood published the results of a genetic study which had identified five new genes linked to Parkinson's disease.[14]

Information on the latest research can be found on the Institute website.

The Institute receives over £33 million per annum in research grants and currently holds over 300 active grants.[3] The Institute conducts research into a wide range of neurological diseases, including movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, brain cancer, stroke and brain injury, muscle and nerve disorders, cognitive dysfunction and dementia.[3]

In the 2008 RAE almost 100 staff were submitted for evaluation and 70% of research was deemed to be internationally competitive or world leading.[3] Submitted papers received an average citation rate of 40 per paper.[3]

The Institute is home to the following research departments and centres[15]

The Institute also has active collaborative research programmes with the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre and the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour.

The Institute operates a joint library with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, which is located at the Institute.[17] The library is the recognised Library for Neurology within the University of London and contains an important collection of specialist neurology, neurosurgery and neuroscience books and journals, together with general medical and biomedical literature.[17] The archives hold a collection of pamphlets written by John Hughlings Jackson, the only such collection known to exist.[18] Holders of identity cards for the Institute, UCL, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery or University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust may become registered users.[17]